Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Awareness (2)
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3 days. 72 hours. 4320 minutes. 259200 seconds.
The time May Luina had to wait to meet Stay again.
Since only her mind remained, sleep wasn't even permitted to May Luina, making these 3 days a stretch she had to endure fully awake.
In pitch-black darkness where she couldn't see an inch ahead, unable to sleep, with nothing to do but think and imagine, 3 days felt like an eternity of terror for her.
"...Do I really have to wait 3 days—3 whole days—to see Stay? Do I have to spend 3 entire days alone?"
If she hadn't met Stay, if his Status Window hadn't enabled conversation with her, if she'd remained utterly alone like she had for the past month, she never would have felt this way.
She'd have just cried endlessly, sobbed until the tears finally dried up at some point.
After all, when there's nothing you can do and no hope of getting better, most people end up resigned to their fate.
But the current May Luina knew a cure existed. She'd received treatment directly from Stay and, at the same time, regained the ability to communicate with another person—something she'd thought lost forever.
"3 days, 3 whole days... 72 hours, 4320 minutes, 259200 seconds. All alone...?"
Hope had been born from her conversations and treatment with Stay.
And hope doesn't allow forced resignation. It prevents adaptation to the horrific circumstances.
Because the hope of improvement mirrors the burning desire to escape the present hell.
A person trapped in a situation they desperately want to flee, who knows a way out, can't adapt to it—and thus can't resign themselves either.
May Luina had to rely entirely on Stay to resolve her plight.
He had to infuse her body with Yang Energy and drive her to climax for the curse to lift.
There was no other method, so all she could do was wait for Stay.
In this scenario, hope wasn't the comforting word it seemed.
Because May Luina could do absolutely nothing practical to solve her own problem.
"Ugh, uuu... N-no, I hate this. I hate it so much. 3 days is way too long. I can't sleep, I can't do anything, I have to endure every single minute and second fully conscious in this darkness. And for that brief treatment, I have to wait 3 days? This isn't right...!"
She knew better than anyone that waiting was all she could do, yet the reality of enduring a full 3 days without human touch—without Stay's warm, reassuring touch—filled her with rage.
"Yeah, that's it. I need to tell him off properly. 3 days is ridiculous. Split it into morning, lunch, and dinner sessions. Or better yet, since I'm his first patient, he should treat me completely first, then the others. Yeah, I'll suggest that."
The contract she'd made with Stay stipulated that all three would awaken simultaneously, at which point he'd leave the hospital room.
They'd agreed to treat one per day instead of splitting into meals because his total Yang Energy was limited.
Of course, the current situation revealed that a good night's sleep fully recharged it—and the amount was so vast it rarely ran dry—but May Luina didn't know that.
Unaware of this, she was ready to shatter the one-day-per-patient deal after just one day, ignoring his constraints and prioritizing only herself.
"Perfect. That's the way. Get me out of this nightmare first, then deal with the others..."
An inevitable selfishness blooming in one pushed to the brink by their unbearable circumstances.
Blinded by it, May Luina wanted to demand exactly what she desired from Stay right then and there.
"Then ask him to treat me next... But to say that..."
But in an instant, reality crashed down. Her overheated mind cooled like it'd been doused in ice water.
"...3 days still have to pass."
Yes. It didn't matter if her desires were selfish or not.
The current May Luina couldn't even voice them without Stay showing up.
"I can't even beg him to prioritize me. I can't do anything I want. Stay has to come first... Only then can I speak..."
The moment she realized this, the soul-crushing helplessness she'd felt every day, every hour, every minute, every second for 30 days—the feeling she'd forgotten only in Stay's presence—swallowed her whole.
"Ugh, uuu... So looonely... So, so saaad..."
The tears that had stopped when Stay arrived began to leak out slowly, stickily.
"I don't waaant to be alooone... I-I could wait a day maybeee... B-but thrii days... Thrii days is too looong... Hic..."
But the only one who could hear May Luina's pitiful sobs right now... was May Luina herself.
Wooong-
"Hic... U-ugh. Huh?"
As hope slipped away hopelessly and despair over the 3-day wait made her sob endlessly, a connecting sensation touched her heart.
The warm, gentle link she'd felt for the first time yesterday—the one that assured her she wasn't alone in this world.
"Wh-what is thiiiis... Sniff, hic. Why does it feel like thiiiis... Th-there's no one heeere anywayyy... Stay left. No sounds, no presence at all, so whyyy...?"
Inwardly wiping tears and snot, May Luina questioned the sensation.
That doubt dissolved completely with the voice of a man she could never forget—and never wanted to.
"Huh? What's this, you're awake? But why are you crying? I put you out with a perfect climax faint."
The owner of the voice that made her feel she wasn't alone—and spoke to her directly—was unmistakably Stay, whom she'd thought had finished treatment and left.
※
Thinking she might be stirring, I activated Mind Reading, and sure enough, May Luina's mind had awakened from its faint.
That part was great, but for some reason, she was crying.
Even though there was zero reason to.
[Uuuu...! If you're heeere, at least make some noiiiise! I totally thought you'd left for good!]
The moment I asked why she was crying, May Luina stopped immediately and got mad at me instead.
True, sitting silently by someone who's asleep without a sound is pretty rude.
If the roles were reversed and I woke up to find May Luina sitting beside my unconscious body, staring without a peep? Just imagining it gave me chills.
Of course, she'd never do something like that.
But putting myself in her shoes, it could come off as total creepy pervert behavior.
Still, I had my reasons, so I explained to the fuming May Luina why I had no choice.
"Couldn't help it. I wanted to learn more about you, May Luina."
[...Y-yes? Wh-what did you just say? You wanted to know more about me?]
"Yep."
I nodded affirmatively as she repeated my words, having heard them crystal clear.
[S-Stay. You're that interested in me? Well, yeah, who isn't? No one in the world lacks interest in me. I'm the one and only saintess, praised and adored by all humanity. It's only natural for an ordinary guy like you to get so fixated on me lying here that you forget to even breathe.]
At my response, May Luina launched into lively self-praise that made it hard to believe she'd been wallowing in misery moments ago.
I wanted to shut her down with a "that's a delusion" or "self-consciousness overload," but since not everything she said was nonsense, I was left momentarily speechless.
Hah... fine, she's right. Hate to admit it, but yeah, I was so mesmerized by May Luina that I forgot to breathe.
"Sigh... You're right. I'll admit it—I was totally fixated on you. Got so caught up watching May Luina that I forgot to make a sound."
So I owned up to it truthfully.
[Eek... R-really? Uu, saying it so outright like that. That's... pretty bold...]
"But hey, doesn't a healer deserve praise for meticulously observing the treatment area?"
[...Huh? Treatment... area?]
"Yeah. I was pondering where to focus next time. But with your body right there in front of me, I couldn't help getting distracted. So I watched closely. What can ya do? It's necessary for faster treatment."
[S-so you're saying... you were so zeroed in on my body that you forgot to breathe...?]
Thrilled that she'd nailed it, I pointed at her fully exposed breasts, bare and peeking out from under the blanket in all their naked glory.
"Exactly. May Luina's massive milkers are the ultimate pair—no red-blooded man could look away!"
[E-eek?! I-I'm naked?! You stripped me buck naked?!]
"Ah, but don't worry. I left your pants on. For treating you, just working the tits gets the job done."
[Hiyaaa! Why say it like you're doing me some huge favor! You think that makes me grateful?!]
At my words, May Luina yelped in shock, her scream laced with shame as she raged.
Why get mad? I explained it was all for the treatment. She herself said she wanted to wake up ASAP.
Yep, May Luina was definitely personality-shattered.
[N-no forgiveness! I'm not letting this slide! So hurry up and calm me down! Stroke my cheek or something!]
See? Total nutcase.